


I ___ You

by Daji



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Hajime is there, Hajime/Tori is there, M/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 19:45:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9673301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daji/pseuds/Daji
Summary: 1) Valentine's day: Tsukasa does not understand why this bothers him so much.2) White day: "That's no way to talk to someone you have a crush on, Tsukasa~"





	

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I always default to Tori onesidedly liking Tsukasa so here's the opposite.
> 
> I don't like this that much and I feel like my Tsukasa is OOC but it's Valentine's soon and my beta reader thought it was fine.
> 
> Actual note: I assumed the desks they use are the type that open on the top. Look up "lid desk" if you need a visual. I swear he isn't going incredible hulk on that poor desk.

A romantic scene unfolded between two students in the early morning before anyone else could arrive to disturb them. It was typical of any valentines day; two people meet up secretly, one surprises the other with chocolates and a confession, and they go from there. Hajime and Tori followed this script to the T, the blue haired boy presenting his love interest with handmade chocolates that were delicately shaped into little hearts and wrapped in an ordinary plastic bag. The presentation didn't seem to bother Tori at all. Why would it? Judging by his expression after he tried one, the taste was more than enough to make up for it. Judging by Hajime's expression after Tori picked one up and fed it to him, he seemed to think so too.

Tsukasa watched it all from the hallway, grip tightening around the box of convenience store chocolate that he picked up on the way here.

Maybe that ecstatic look on Hajime's face wasn't because of the chocolate. Maybe, just maybe, it was the heat of the situation getting to him. His feelings had not only reached Tori, they had been reciprocated. Tori showed no hesitation in proving it to him either. He moved closer for a hug and, in a twist, kissed the taller boy on the cheek when he leaned in, thoroughly flustering the both of them.

Tsukasa does not understand why this bothers him so much.

He had only bought this box of chocolate as a courtesy. An obligatory gift from one wealthy son to another. He even went through great lengths to pick out a pre-wrapped box that showed he cared enough to get something that looks and tastes nice, but not enough to actually wrap it himself or have it imported from another country. A brand he had eaten before that he was sure Tori would enjoy, and he would like them enough to begrudgingly thank Tsukasa for introducing him to commoners chocolate. Then on white day it'd be the other boys turn to reciprocate, and-

And maybe he did put a lot of thought into this.

But that did not mean he cares about Tori. The sky would fall before that came true. It just meant he cares about…gestures.

Yes, gestures. This was a platonic gesture. So he shouldn't be bothered by any romantic gestures aimed at Tori.

"Oh! Good morning, Tsukasa-kun. Are you headed to class too?"

Startled, Tsukasa snapped out of his thoughts and looked ahead. Hajime was standing in the hall, a cheery smile on his face with only a hint of the blush that only moments ago had spread over his face like a wildfire. It seemed like he didn't notice that Tsukasa had been watching the entire time.

"…you are unusually early today."

"That's …oh, um, it's because I want to give these out to everyone before classes start"

Hajime looked through the bag at his side, pulling out a pair of plastic wrapped chocolates. Not only was the quantity smaller than the ones Tori had been given, the shapes were nothing special. It made some part of Tsukasa feel odd, but he accepted them nontheless, forcing a polite smile for Hajime. "Thank you very much."

"No problem! Um…have a good day, Tsukasa-kun." A small wave and he was off, headed for his actual classroom before either of them started any stiff, awkward small talk.

As soon as he was out of sight Tsukasa shoved the chocolates into his bag. He'd save them for later, when the uneasy feeling in his gut had hopefully settled.

* * *

The classroom was abandoned during lunch save for Tsukasa and two of his classmates chatting in the back of the room. Even on a day like this some people had nothing better to do, it seemed. A minor incovenience, but considering how distracted they were with eachother it wouldn't be enough of a setback to justify putting this off until later.

Tsukasa stared at the box of chocolate next to his half eaten lunch.

It radiated this odd pressure. The longer he looked at it, the more nervous he ended up feeling. It was definitely cursed, having suddenly drained him of the courage to present them to Tori upfront when the opportunity arose earlier in the day yet still filling him with the incredible urge to give them to the other boy. He had then planned to slip them into Tori's bag during lunch. This was immediately foiled when he took it along with him to meet with Hajime, the two of them going off to…

The uneasy feeling in his gut flared and touched the pit of his chest.

It was the chocolates. They were 100% cursed. The sooner he got rid of them, the better.

He could just tear the box open and eat the stupid things. He had thought about it during class and it seemed like the perfect solution. The longer it weighed on his mind, though, the more he realized that it felt like an incredible waste of all his effort so far. If he ended up not delivering it he would feel unfilfilled, but when he did try some awful force inside of him held him back.

His eyes wandered over to Tori's empty desk.

It was now or never.

One quick glance back at the students in the back of the room to confirm they weren't looking before he leaned over to the desk next to him. Propping it open revealed a surprisingly organized interior; workbooks on one side, a folder on the other, and on top of it all a pink envelope and a bag of half eaten heart shaped chocolate.

The memory of what he was a secret witness to in the morning flashed back into his mind. He scrunched his nose at the sour taste of it, tried to occupy his mind with something else to push it back out. Right, there was a letter - did the chocolate come with a letter? He didn't notice any when he saw the exchange. The envelope was open and lying face down next to Tori's valentines gift, so the two could have come as a pair. But if they hadn't, and there was a third person involved…no, it was already established that Tsukasa should not care.

Should and did are two very different things.

And because he did care more than he told himself he shouldn't, Tsukasa took a leap and decided to do something incredibly rude. It betrayed his decorum, but he felt more loyalty to that awful growing feeling of fuzzy jealousy inside of him than his manners right now.

Is that what that was?

No, absolutely not. There was no way Tsukasa could ever feel _jealous_ because Tori had been confessed to by someone else. He couldn't even stand talking to him as a friend.

But if that was actually true he wouldn't have not-so-stealthily grabbed that pink envelope and rushed to pull out the letter inside it. He wouldn't have unfolded it over his desk, huddled over it as if keeping his shameful peeping a secret from the non-existent peers that at any other hour would be sitting next to him. He wouldn't be reading it now, trying to digest all the flowery words etched in fittingly bubbly handwriting. He skimmed over the love letter, skipping over pet names, high praise, and words of affection, hurrying towards the end to find out who the blasted sender was.

>                                      |\\_/|  
>                                       `o.o'  
>  Love, Tori Himemiya =(_)=  
>                                           U

…

…What?

>                                      |\\_/|  
>                                       `o.o'  
>  Love, Tori Himemiya =(_)=  
>                                           U

No. It made no sense.

>                                      |\\_/|  
>                                       `o.o'  
>  Love, Tori Himemiya =(_)=  
>                                           U

It didn't matter how many times he sat here and read it, it just made no sense. If Tori wrote this, then who…

Tsukasa almost didn't want to know the answer. But his growing curousity did, and his eyes made their way up to the top of the letter to check the only line he had neglected.

>                          (\\_/)  
>  For Hajime ♡ ( '.' )  
>                           (_ _) 

Tsukasa felt defeated.

He didn't know what he lost at, but he felt defeated.

Tsukasa resisted the urge to tear the letter in two. He shoved it back in the envelope and put it where it belonged, haphazardly throwing the box of chocolate that he had meant to gift Tori on top of them. A parting gift from the puppy love which he now resolved to forget all about along with any other thoughts of Tori that popped into his head.

* * *

Tsukasa's resolve lasted an entire eleven minutes.

Tori was in an incredibly giddy mood. It was somewhat contagious, and it lifted Tsukasa's crushed spirit just a tiny bit. He couldn't keep his eyes to himself, occasionally glancing over at Tori after he sat down next to him. This lasted throughout the entire lesson, Tsukasa incredibly more interested in seeing Tori's reaction to his gift than he thought he would be. There wasn't a chance he could beat Hajime now, but if Tori at least expressed some gratitude towards the sender it would definitely be enough to have made this all worth it.

The class took a short break. Tsukasa was distracted with taking out the appropriate material for their next lesson when the airy voice of the boy who sat next to him rang out,

"Tsukasa! Look over here!"

He turned his attention over to Tori, who had haphazardly torn open the box of chocolate that was left inside his desk and was now proudly displaying it on top. "This is my second valentines gift today. How many did you get?"

"None." He replied, before remembering Hajime's courtesy gift earlier. "Pardon, my tongue slipped. I meant One."

"Oho?" Tori was smug now. He picked up one of the chocolate pieces, popping it into his mouth in front of Tsukasa. It was the type with a soft filling on the inside, and unbeknownst to Tori it had left a little smidge of chocolate on his lip. "The numbers have it. People like me more than they'll ever like you."

Tori, as always, was a lot cuter when he wasn't talking.

"A one gift difference is hardly anything to brag about, Tori-kun" Tsukasa remarked, trying to hold his tongue before anything unpleasant slipped. "Also, you have something on your lip."

"Ahh?" Tori stuck his tongue out and blindly poked at his upper lip. "Did I get it?"

"No"

He stuck his tongue out, once again going for his upper lip. "Now?"

"No- ugh, you are hopeless." Tsukasa took his handkerchief out of his pocket. "Stay still"

Tsukasa leaned forward, handkerchief over his hand as he pressed his thumb against Tori's lower lip to wipe it. A current immediately ran from his hand, down his arm, up along his neck, and straight to his mind. He was having a hard time keeping his hand from trembling and exposing the bubbly idea that had popped in his head, his thoughts wandering and imagining what it would be like to touch Tori without this piece of fabric between them. His skin looked soft, and he could savor it as he traced Tori's jawline and ran his hand behind Tori's head, through his silky hair and then…

…how much longer was he planning on lying to himself about these feelings that had festered and infected him over the course of the year? Those feelings that he ignored so easily before now, even when they were upset demons eating away at what was left of his one-sided first love and leaving his heart to wither he wouldn't admit to himself that they existed. Who would want to! Who would ever want to admit to something...

Something as embarrassing as the fact that he had actually developed a crush on a classmate.

That the classmate he had a crush on was, of all the millions of people on earth, _Tori_.

His imagination came to an abrupt end when he pulled his hand away. "There. Now it is gone."

"Gross, now I owe Tsukasa a favor. Here, take this." Tori looked through the array of chocolates before him, no doubt picking which one he liked the least. He settled for a solid white chocolate, holding it out towards Tsukasa. The taller boy rolled his eyes, but accepted nontheless, eating it and turning back to his own desk.

Tori hadn't felt that same static between them that Tsukasa did. It existed inside of Tsukasa and Tsukasa alone, and while it was miserable to think about it was an indication that his feelings weren't ready to die. They would continue to grow, to sneak up on him and remind him of a love that would likely never come to bloom.

That's fine by him, Tsukasa decides. For the time being he's content enough with watching from afar.

**Author's Note:**

> Next up is either Medival AU or real Hajime/Tori, both are just collecting dust in my drafts.


End file.
